The Great Valentine's Day Not a Date
by brittaden
Summary: Wanting to take advantage of Valentine's Day deal at a swanky restaurant, Lorelai invites Luke out on a date. Not a date. Because two friends can enjoy a nice dinner without it meaning anything, right? Season 4.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls.**

**Author's note: Just a little little V-Day story inspired by a prompt I found on Tumblr. A couple things to note before reading the story. Takes in place in Season 4 but we have conveniently not included Nicole or Jason. As far as I'm concerned, they don't exist in this universe except for a brief call-back to Nicole in the next chapter.**

**This story will only be two chapters. The second will be uploaded a couple hours after this one. And then, that's a wrap**.

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Lorelai walked up to the diner's steps just in time for Taylor to come sailing down them courtesy of a scowling Luke whose presence filled the doorway. She stumbled out of the way, not to be taken out by a hairpiece and a sweater vest, and watched as Taylor composed himself and dusted off said sweater vest before he attempted to speak again only to be met with a vicious sounding threat from Luke that had him finally scurrying away from the diner. Once the show was over, Lorelai looked up at Luke with curious eyes.

"Are you throwing everyone out or is this just a Taylor thing?"

Luke looked down at her, seemingly just noticing her presence. He stepped to the side and held the door open so she could enter. "Come on."

She took a step and watched him carefully. "Not if this is going to end with me flying down the steps, these boots are not made for that activity."

"Do you want some coffee or not?"

"Yes, please."

"Then come on," he said with a jerk of his head to the inside of the diner. "I don't have all day."

She hurried up the steps. "Such a gentleman," she teased him, making her way past him and into the diner where she settled herself upon her chosen stool at the counter.

Luke was seconds behind her, rounding the corner of the counter and pulling out a mug and the coffee-pot with a well-practiced ease. He slid the cup across the counter to her before finding a stray menu and setting it down next to her coffee mug because he knew as soon as he didn't, she would ask for one even though she knew the menu backwards and forwards.

After taking a sip, she looked at him over the rim of her coffee cup. "Want to talk about it?" she asked, trading the coffee mug for the menu and briefly glancing over the lines.

"About what?" Luke responded as he started to wipe down the counter.

"Uh, the Taylor flying act that happened right outside the diner," Lorelai replied. "I was there, you were there, Taylor was briefly there. I think you may have ripped his sweater vest. I've never seen him move that fast before except that one time he accidentally gave away the wrong coupons for his store."

Luke continued to wipe down the counter. "It was nothing, just Taylor being Taylor." He nodded his head towards the menu. "You gonna order something?"

"Cheeseburger, hold all the healthy stuff, and fries," Lorelai answered. She waited until he gave the order to Caesar in the kitchen and was back in front of her before she spoke again. "You know just because you tried distracting me with food, doesn't mean I'm going to let it go."

"What are you talking about?"

"Taylor and the incredible, amazing adventures that led to him getting literally thrown out of the diner," Lorelai answered. She pushed her used menu out of the way and once again picked up her cup of coffee. "Now, tell me."

He crossed his arms. "Why do you want to know so bad?"

"To make sure that I don't do whatever he did to get whatever he deserved because as I said before but will say it again because it needs repeating, the boots are not made for flying."

Luke sighed, exasperated and knowing that she would eventually wear it out of him. "He wants to use the diner for speed-dating."

Lorelai smiled. "Now, see was that so hard?" she questioned then barreled on before getting a response. "Speed-dating, huh?"

"Yeah," Luke answered with a nod of his head. "He wants me to shut the diner down on Valentine's Day so he can hold speed-dating for all the lovely singles of Stars Hollow," he replied, the last part a direct quote from Taylor himself.

"Stars Hollow has lovely singles?" Lorelai asked.

"Oh, not just Stars Hollow," Luke replied, getting worked up again. "He thinks word will spread and it'll get so big that we'll get singles from Woodbridge, and Hartford and Litchfield."

She smiled again, ever amused by his rants. "And he wants to hold it here at the diner, why?"

"He thinks I won't charge him," Luke answered bluntly, seething again from anger. "But, oh is he wrong about that! And he wants me to prepare a special Valentine's Day menu for all the lonely singles that are stupid enough to get roped into speed-dating thinking that they'll find their perfect match with asinine questions like 'what's your favorite color? oh blue, me too!' The whole concept is a waste of time."

"You think in speed-dating when you only spend like what, five minutes, with each other, that people focus on questions like what's your favorite color?"

"I don't know," Luke said with a shrug of his shoulders. "I've never been."

She feigned shock. "I never would've guessed."

He brushed off her sarcasm. "It's a waste of time," he reiterated. "What happened to meeting people the old-fashioned way?"

"Well, grandpa, times are-a changing."

"No, I'm serious."

Lorelai gestured his way. "This coming from the guy with the gut thing when it comes to dating."

"That works," Luke punctuated his point by jabbing his finger into the diner counter. "Speed-dating doesn't."

She held up her hands in mock-surrender. "I'm not pro speed-dating, it sounds like a nightmare. Sitting at a table while man after man rotates around spitting out what they think are interesting facts about themselves but it's just a reason that you wouldn't want to date them. I'm with you, it seems like a waste of time."

He tapped the counter with his fingers again. "I'm gonna go check on your food."

Lorelai nodded her head in response and traded their conversation for sipping on her coffee that had started to cool off. Her mind drifted to what had ultimately drove her to the diner in the first place. Not that she would've avoided the diner if the events of today hadn't happened but when the small things started to pile up, she needed the warmth of the diner. And the coffee.

Valentine's Day was approaching and that meant Stars Hollow was fully decorated in various shades of reds and pinks and there were cut-out hearts and cartoon cupids that plastered every store window. All except Luke's of course. And usually she would bug him into decorating the diner for the holiday, even if it was one red heart in the window, but this year, she couldn't even work up the nerve to bug him. It was as if everyone around her was in love or coupled up and planning something for the holiday and yet, here she was, single and no dating options in her near vicinity. And it didn't help that her last date was months and months ago.

Earlier this morning, she had spent the time she had devoted to meeting with Sookie and Michel about renovations for The Dragonfly, listening to Sookie gush over everything she was planning for Jackson for Valentine's Day and how he kept hinting at what he had planned for her. She thought that she could at least commiserate with Michel over their mutual lack of plans but apparently even he had plans for the holiday. To top it all off, her mother had graciously offered her a package deal that she had been gifted since it would go to waste with them since they had their own plans for Valentine's Day, like every other couple. It was an all-inclusive deal for a swanky restaurant in Hartford that promised a delicious multi-course meal, the best, bubbling prosecco, and fancy-shmancy desserts. Her words, not the restaurant's, but it still rang true. And, if she had a date, it would be something that she would've loved to take advantage of, not that she would let her mother know that, but she had no date. She didn't even have any prospects for a date.

And so, to the diner she came because if she could commiserate with anyone over this, it would be Luke. As far as she knew, he was in the same boat as her when it came to dating options. As expected, he was doing an excellent job of commiserating with her even if he wasn't aware of it.

"Dead cow," he deadpanned, placing the cheeseburger in front of her.

"Your customer service is top-notch, I hope you know that," she replied sarcastically.

"Need anything else?"

She smiled and pointed to the ketchup bottle that was clearly within her reach, if only she stretched a little. "Ketchup?"

He rolled his eyes but slid the ketchup bottle closer to her plate. "Anything else?"

She shook her head. "All good here." She waited for him to walk off before dressing her burger to her liking but when he didn't budge, she looked up at him. "Can I help you with something?"

"It's all a sham anyway," Luke answered.

"My burger?" She looked closely at the burger on her plate. "Did you give me a turkey burger?"

"Valentine's Day."

"Oh," Lorelai said as lifted a fry to her mouth and took a bite. From the sound of it, she was going to get dinner and a show. "Let me guess, it's a holiday created by a greeting card companies to pry hard-earned money out of the suckers willing to give in and participate?"

"Exactly," Luke agreed, unaware her intentions of egging him on. "They create this holiday that says there's one day a year that it's mandatory to show your love for your partner by buying flowers and candy and making reservations at a restaurant that's booked out weeks in advance, all because of the expectations people place on one day."

Lorelai nodded and agreed through a mouthful of burger, trying to encourage his rant on. She loved his rants. And it was perfect for the commiseration she sought.

"You could do any of that any other day of the year but that doesn't matter, not if you miss planning something for this one day of the year. It's manufactured to draw as much money out of consumers as possible. They jack up the prices of flowers and there are chumps stupid enough to fall for it all because of a fake holiday. It's a sham, it's not real."

"Hear, hear," Lorelai bellowed, holding up her nearly empty coffee cup in agreement and as a request for more coffee.

"You're agreeing with me?" Luke asked incredulously while he poured fresh coffee into her cup. "But you're crazy about every holiday. Last Valentine's Day, you badgered me into putting up decorations."

"I'm a new woman this year," Lorelai replied. "This year I'm on your side, I'm anti-Valentine's Day."

After putting the coffee pot back in its warmer, he leaned down on the counter in front of her. "Feels good to have someone to share this with."

Lorelai smiled at him. "Agreed."

The diner was in a lull and besides her, there weren't too many customers. Still, Luke left her alone for a minute to tend to the other guest's needs before he was behind the counter again and striking up a conversation centered around the holiday that they were now both against.

"I'm guessing you don't have plans for Valentine's Day," he said.

She shook her head. "Nope. No cupid with a special love arrow for me this year."

"If I decide to gouge Taylor out of all his money, you could always come to the diner for speed-dating," Luke joked.

She let out a small laugh. "With my luck, I'd get matched up with Kirk."

"Not even with Kirk, he has Lulu," Luke reminded her. "He's also approached me with a deal about renting out the diner for the night."

"Aw, that's kind of cute though," Lorelai pondered. "I'm sure Kirk would make it weird but it's a nice gesture."

"It's not happening," Luke said definitively.

"Again, I'm shocked," she replied sarcastically.

He grabbed the rag from underneath the counter and began to clean it again. "No plans at all, not even with Rory?"

"You think I have Valentine's plans with my daughter?"

His face was screwed with confusion, "Seems like something the two of you would do. You two have traditions for other holidays, this one doesn't have to be any different."

"I'm joking," Lorelai assured him from her tone before. "Rory and I usually do have a Valentine's Day traditions that involves lots of movies, the really cheesy rom-com ones, and all the heart-shaped candy we can buy for ourselves."

"But not this year?"

"Right. She's been seeing someone from Yale and he's made plans for Valentine's Day."

"Chump." When he noticed her expression, he continued on. "Him for falling for the manufactured holiday, not Rory."

There was a grin on her face as she shook her head. "You make things like this too easy."

"Glad I can amuse you."

"That's why I come here, dinner and a show."

He gestured down to her mostly devoured burger and fries that she was just playing around with at this point. "You done with that?"

She nodded and pushed the plate towards him. "Pie?"

"Apple or cherry?"

"Both."

He cleared the plate in front of her and returned mere moments later with a new plate covered with her requested two pieces of pie. "I'm out of ice cream so don't ask."

She pretended to salute him, "Yes, sir," before she started to dig into her pie. "But you know," she began, after finishing a bite of the combined apple and cherry pies, "Valentine's Day isn't all that bad."

"I thought you were being anti-Valentine's Day."

"I still am but I can see the value in it still, even if you do believe it's a made-up holiday. It can be nice to have a special someone willing to woo you on this day with flowers and candy, even if everyone else is doing the same thing with their special someone," Lorelai explained away with a small shrug of her shoulders. "It's a nice thought, that's all."

"I guess," Luke half-heartedly agreed. "If they're not placing too many expectations on the day, it could be nice."

"Aw, look at you Mr. Softy," Lorelai teased. "Falling for Valentine's Day."

"Not another word or I take back the pie."

She pulled her plate closer to her. "Don't you dare."

He shook his head and the tiniest of grins threatened his features. "If you're really into the holiday, it could be nice."

Scared that her pie might really be taken away, she chose to stay silent and settled for a smile that meant she appreciated his agreement on the topic. It could be nice. And this was nice; having a person to commiserate with and easy-flowing conversation with no hiccups where one person wasn't sure what to say. It was nice to have a friend. Honestly, it was kind of a shame that Valentine's Day was only reserved for couples, friends could spend time together and take advantage of great deals that were offered. Like the package deal that her mother had offered her and that the details for currently resided in her purse.

"Ugh, I wish friends could go on Valentine's Day dates," Lorelai sympathized with herself out loud, catching the attention of Luke. For him to not think that she was completely crazy, she retrieved the offer's details from her purse. "My mother gave this to me because her and my father passed on it, I guess she thinks I have a reason to celebrate, but look at it. A fancy dinner at a swanky restaurant, bubbly prosseco, and look at those desserts! They look amazing!"

Luke took the paper from her that laid out the specifics of what she was rambling on about. He saw it as another ploy to drag money out of those willing to shell out as much as it cost but she was clearly excited. "So why don't you go?"

"It clearly states it's for couples, Luke," Lorelai replied. "As in a couple of people. As in more than one. And I'm just one. No date."

"I'm sure you could find someone willing to tag along."

"And what, find someone that wants to date me and doesn't think it's crazy that I'm asking them out on a date on a day that has all these romantic expectations?" Lorelai questioned. "Yeah, that wouldn't come off crazy at all."

"I meant," Luke began to explain. "I'm sure you could find someone, like a friend who doesn't expect it to be a date, to go with you. Ask around."

"Maybe," Lorelai agreed. "It could just be a friend. Someone I already know."

"Right."

"Because then we'd be a couple of people," Lorelai followed up. "Taking advantage of a great deal. As friends."

"Shouldn't be that hard to find someone."

A plan started to form in her mind and a devious, little smile crossed her face. "You're right, it shouldn't be that hard."

He continued on, unaware of what she was thinking. "You have lots of friends. You could find someone."

She leaned her face into her hands and watched him. The same conniving smirk on her face. "I could find someone."

He caught her eye and the gears began to twist and turn in his mind. He knew that look. That was the look she gave him whenever she wanted something. The look he usually gave into. "No."

"I didn't say anything."

"But you were going to and the answer is no."

"You don't know that."

"I know that look."

She put on a mask of innocence, pretending to be blissfully unaware that he was indeed catching on to her newly formed plan. "What look?"

"That look!" he exclaimed with a finger pointing at her. "I'm not going to say yes."

Lorelai leaned across the counter, giving him her best and brightest smile as she asked, "Do you want to go on a Valentine's Day date with me?" Before he could answer, she tacked on. "As friends."

"No."

"Come on Luke, you just said..."

He interrupted. "I know that I said but I'm not that friend. You have other friends."

"Not that many."

"Go ask one of the not many."

"They're all coupled up," Lorelai replied. "But we're not. And it wouldn't mean anything, just two friends taking advantage of a great deal. Did I mention it's free because my parents know someone that know someone that gave this to them? It wouldn't cost either of us a single penny. Just a couple hours of your time."

"Find someone else," he said before he walked away from her.

But she was quick and popped up from her seat and followed him around the diner as he began to check in with other customers and bus a couple of dirty tables. "Come on, now, you gave me the idea."

"I'm working, Lorelai."

"And I'm not stopping you, just following you," Lorelai replied as she did continue to follow him. She even picked a up a few dirty dishes herself. "See, I'm helping. It's just one night, Luke."

"I'll take those," he said, ignoring her plea.

She tried to follow him into the kitchen but was stopped when he stopped in the doorway and wouldn't let her pass. "Like going out with me would be that terrible that you have to hide in the kitchen to get away from my questions."

"I said no," Luke shouted back, trading places with Caesar in the kitchen since it's the one place Lorelai wasn't allowed. "I'm working."

"There's no new customers and I can help with those dishes if it'll get you to agree to this with me." She wasn't opposed to begging and it looked like that's where this was headed. "Please, Luke. Just one night. It'll get you away from the diner, it'll be a nice night out. When's the last time you went out?"

"I'm fine with not going out."

"Okay, Unabomber, everyone needs to get out of the house every now and then," Lorelai chimed in. "Look at it this way, if you agree to this, you'll be away from the diner for the night and won't have to deal directly with couples on the holiday you hate and, bonus, you won't have to deal with Taylor and his constant nagging of wanting to have a speed-dating event and why you don't participate in the town's events."

When he didn't immediately respond and seemed to be thinking about what she was saying, she smiled. "I see I've piqued your interest."

"Being rid of Taylor for the night is promising," Luke said, meeting her half-way.

"That's the cherry on top," Lorelai quipped. "And all it'll cost you is spending a couple hours with me, away from the diner. Am I really that annoying to you that you'd rather spend the time listening to Taylor nagging you?"

He didn't answer that question because it was loaded and instead, he met her with a question of his own. "Would I have to dress up?"

"All I ask is that the flannel and the hat take a break for the night," Lorelai reassured him. "But if they're essential to getting you to agree to this, I'll allow it."

He blew out a breath. "Fine. I guess it won't kill me."

She let out a little squeal and clapped her hands together. "I love when men say that to me."

"I'm not wearing a suit."

"Oh, hon, I wouldn't ask that of you," Lorelai said, through a grin. "I'll pick you up at 8."

"You'll pick me up?" he questioned.

"I asked you out on this non-date," Lorelai reminded him. "So, therefore, I'm the non-dater and you're the non-date-e, so I'll pick you up."

"I can pick you up," Luke offered.

"Whatever works for you." She clapped her hands together again in excitement. "It's a date!"

His eyes widened and he clarified and repeated what she had said before. "Not a date."

"Not a date date," Lorelai agreed. "But a friend date."

He sighed and wondered exactly what he was getting himself into. "I'll pick you up at 8."

"It's not a date!"

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**I hope you enjoyed and as always, reviews are not required but very much appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer in first chapter.**

**Author's note: The second and final chapter to a cute little V-Day story to celebrate the loving holiday. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. And now, enjoy the second.**

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"You're going on a date with Luke?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes though she knew Rory couldn't see it through the phone. "For the last time, it's not a date," she explained. "You know for someone that goes to Yale; you're having an awfully hard time grasping this concept."

"I know what you've told me about how it's not really a date and you're just taking advantage of the offer that Grandma gave to you but I'm also saying it sounds like a date to me," Rory replied over the phone line. "He's picking you up at the house, you called me for fashion advice, you're going to a fancy restaurant, all the signs point to it being a date."

Lorelai started to do her impression of a phone's static noises. "Rory, hon, you're breaking up. I'm going through a tunnel."

"In your bedroom?"

"Interior design is truly amazing in these modern times," Lorelai quipped after cutting out the disconnection noises. "And I didn't call you for fashion advice. I called to check in and see what you were planning to wear on your date because I had to make sure that you had on a good date outfit."

"So, you asking me if your black dress was too slutty for tonight wasn't asking for fashion advice?" Rory questioned.

Lorelai turned to the side and checked herself out in the mirror in her bedroom. "Just wanted an honest opinion and the answer was yes, it was too slutty, especially for a non-date."

"A date."

"Not a date," Lorelai corrected her. She turned to her other side and smoothed out the fabric of her dress. "Hey, what about the pink dress? You know the one with the sequins, ooh and I can pair it with that cute, little jacket that has the hearts on it. For the holiday?"

"Are you asking for fashion advice now?"

The joking tone to her daughter's voice had her bringing back the impression that her phone was disconnecting. "The tunnel...it's back...you're breaking up," she paused for more authenticity in between words before adding on, "Have fun on your date sweets!"

Lorelai flipped her phone shut and tossed it onto her bed. She checked herself out in the mirror again, turning from her side to the next, before ultimately frowning at her reflection. The dress was too much. Too low-cut for what was supposed to be a non-date. It was a non-date. Just two friends getting together on Valentine's Day because she had been offered a great deal and thought it would be a shame to just let it go to waste because she happened to be single. That's all.

She shimmied out of the pink and sequined dress and kicked it to the ever-growing pile on the floor. The dresses in the pile on the floor had already been ticked off her list for a myriad of reasons ranging from too slutty to looking too much like a librarian. Styling herself for a date was much easier. But, to go out with Luke for a few hours that was just a mutual hangout at a restaurant, that much a much harder outfit to pick. She was overthinking it way too much. Of course, she still wanted to look good, that was just a womanly right. On the other hand, she was 90% sure that Luke was bound to show up to her house in his usual outfits of a flannel and jeans even though she knew first-hand that he had nice, dressy clothes in his closet. The baseball cap may take a break for the night but even that she wasn't totally sold on. It might've permanently fused to his head.

Lorelai looked at the alarm clock on her nightstand and the red numbers glared at her that if she didn't hurry up and pick out an outfit, she'd have to meet him downstairs in her bra and panties and that definitely went against the whole non-date situation they were tangled up in. Because if she was sure about one thing tonight, Luke would be punctual and would pick her up at eight on the dot even though he should know that she wouldn't be ready until at least five minutes after their scheduled time. Frustrated, she groaned aloud, and once again headed over to her open closet doors.

With her time to get ready quickly ticking away, she hurriedly picked over her closet and ultimately settled on a red dress. As she walked back over to the mirror, she stepped and hopped and shimmied into the dress before stopping to check herself out in the mirror for hopefully the last time tonight. The dress wasn't too low-cut, just low enough to pique some interest but not flaunt everything, showed just enough leg to be intriguing, and fit her snugly. Once she threw her little heart patterned jacket over her shoulders, it would be a perfectly themed outfit for Valentine's Day. And it was just unassuming enough to pass as a nice outfit for a non-date with Luke.

Satisfied with her outfit choice, Lorelai ducked back into the closet briefly to grab a pair of silver, sparkly shoes before heading down the hall and into the bathroom to put the finishing to touch on her hair and makeup.

With hair fluffed and lips glossed, Lorelai headed downstairs with shoes on and a clutch in her hand, just in time for the clock to strike eight. She stopped at the end of the staircase and waited for the inevitable knock on the door. When a couple minutes passed and there was still no knock, she leaned onto the railing of the staircase and continued to wait. When there still wasn't a knock or a ringing of the doorbell, she headed to the kitchen to check the clock in there just to make sure her alarm clock upstairs wasn't a few minutes ahead. And, it wasn't. For once, she was ready on time and he was the one running late.

Right as she was beginning to worry that he had backed out and was going to stand her up on Valentine's Day, there was a knock at the door.

Ready to give him a piece of her mind since he had made her wait around on him, she made her way to the front door and swung it open. No words came out. No slightly threatening but teasing words anyway like she had thought about saying to him. Instead she stumbled over her words as she allowed her eyes to roam over him. The 10% where she could've been wrong about him showing up in flannel and jeans was coming out to play. There were no jeans or flannel in sight and she could see every hair on his head, not impeded by a baseball cap. She recognized the sharply dressed outfit as one that she had personally picked out for him when he was foolish enough to lend her his credit card. He looked good.

"You're late," she managed after a couple of minutes and after he caught her staring at him. "We said 8 o'clock."

Luke nodded his head, "Yeah, and I figured you'd be late, so I gave you a little extra time."

She breathed a sigh of annoyance. "And I thought you'd be annoyingly on time, so I hurried and got ready so you wouldn't have to wait."

"I'm here now," he said off-handedly. He jerked his head back in the direction of his truck in her driveway. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah," she said stepping out onto the porch as he moved out of her way. She pulled the front door shut behind her and gave him a smile. "Let's go."

As she went to walk down the porch steps, she noticed Luke wasn't following behind her. "What are you doing, you said the truck is this way."

"Aren't you going to lock the front door?"

Lorelai shook her head. "No, why would I? It's Stars Hollow. The worst thing that happens here is Kirk's night terrors and that always ends with him stuck in a tree."

"You're really not going to lock it?"

"Are you serious?" Lorelai asked. When he didn't budge, she rolled her eyes at him and then dug her key out of her clutch. "Fine, if it means that much to you, I'll lock the door."

"It's for your own safety," Luke replied.

After locking the door, Lorelai turned back to face him. "Happy now? Can we go?"

This time, he offered out his arm to walk her down the steps and out to his truck. Smiling and little reluctantly, she looped her arm with his and allowed him to escort her to his truck. As he walked her to the passenger side, he told her.

"You look great tonight."

She was a little taken aback by the comment but couldn't help but be glad that it was dark out so he wouldn't see the blush that had started to blossom on her cheeks. "So do you," she complimented. And turning it back on him, she added on. "I really do know how to dress a man."

"You're lucky it was this and not the Jimmy Buffet shirt."

She laughed. "Okay, that I would've paid to see."

He opened the passenger side door for her and helped her into his truck since she was in heels before he headed over to the driver's side. In the truck, she couldn't help but notice a bouquet of flowers that rested in the center between their two seats. She didn't say anything about them until Luke got into the truck and also didn't mention the flowers that rested on at his side.

"So, the flowers," Lorelai approached the topic as he began to back out of the driveway. "You have another date tonight after you're done with me? And you want to impress her with some over-priced flowers."

"I had to go to the store today to pick up a few things from the diner and they had some flowers by the cash register, they weren't a terrible price and the cashier kept trying to sell them to me, so I just grabbed them just to shut him up," Luke said, explaining the bouquet. "And I have no use for them, so I just thought that you might like them."

She picked up the bouquet and brought it to her nose for a quick sniff. "So, they're shutting someone up flowers and not for the holiday that is today because this is a non-date that we're going on tonight, right?"

He glanced away from the road for a brief moment to look at her before focusing back on the road. "Right. They're just flowers."

"Okay," Lorelai said, fighting the smile that tugged at her lips over receiving flowers even if they didn't mean anything. "They're beautiful. Although I kind of wish that he had pestered you over chocolates, so I could've got a box of shutting someone up candy."

"I should've expected that," Luke replied.

"We have been friends for a while," Lorelai said. "And a nice rule of thumb, at least for me, chocolate over flowers."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"The next time we go out on a non-date?" Lorelai questioned, a teasing lilt to her voice.

He looked over at her again then back to the road as he drove them away from Stars Hollow. "Exactly."

Slightly confused between the comment on how she looks tonight, the flowers, and the look he just gave her, Lorelai grew quiet and watched as they passed the now leaving Stars Hollow sign. She was just overthinking all of this again, Rory was too in her head that this sounded too much like a date just to be a dinner between friends. And that's all it was. Nothing more, nothing less. Just two friends getting out for the night instead of spending another night home alone, which frankly to her, was kind of sad. But this was getting out and spending time with someone that she knew she could have a nice night with.

By the time they reached the restaurant and got settled at their own little tabled tucked away in the corner of the restaurant, Lorelai had reassured herself that she was clearly overthinking everything. They had agreed to a non-date and that's what this was, she couldn't read into it because she knew Luke definitely wasn't reading into it. After all, she had to practically twist his arm to get him to agree to go out with her for a few hours. This was just a nice night out.

"This is a nice place," Luke commented as he looked around the restaurant. "Probably expensive."

"Luckily, we're not the ones footing the bill tonight," Lorelai reminded him. "We're just taking advantage of an all-inclusive deal that my parents didn't want. Don't tell her but I think this is something I'll like from Emily Gilmore."

He gave a little chuckle at that. "Not a word."

"I knew it was the right decision to invite you out tonight."

"You wouldn't shut up until I said yes," Luke replied.

"That's how I get all my dates," Lorelai joked and then quickly covered up, "Non-dates. Friendly non-dates."

They were interrupted by their waiter dropping by and introducing himself before pouring them each a glass of champagne and leaving the bottle in a chilled bucket at the end of their table. With glasses poured, they were walked through the fixed menu on the table and informed that the first course would be out shortly before the waiter was gone and they were left alone again. Well alone with the many tables that filled the restaurant.

"Should we toast?" Lorelai suggested.

"To what?" Luke asked.

Lorelai shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. We can toast to being the only ones that don't' have high expectations for the day, so this night can't possibly end too terribly."

He lifted his glass. "I can toast to that."

With a 'cheers!", Lorelai clinked her glass with his before lifting the glass to her lips and taking a sip. She noticed the grimace on his face as he took a sip. "What's wrong? You don't like champagne?"

"Hate it," Luke corrected her.

"Sorry," Lorelai apologized. "If I would've known that, I would've asked the waiter for something else while he was at the table."

Luke waved off the apology. "Don't worry about it, I'll get something when he comes back."

"You sure?" Lorelai asked. "Because I did spy a bar on the way to our table, I could go and grab you something else."

"I can wait."

"Or I can go," Lorelai suggested. Her mind was already made up, so she pushed her chair away from the table and stood up. "Be right back!"

Before Luke could stop her, Lorelai dashed away from the table and he watched her as she walked away. She really didn't have to leave and try to grab him something else from the bar, he would've been fine with the champagne for a while, even if he hated it. But he knew that even if he objected to the idea, she still would've gone anyway. That was just Lorelai. He had been skeptical of the idea when Lorelai first invited him, which is why he said no multiple times before he gave in, but this was already turning out to be a nice night. And he did have to admit, she did look really great tonight.

By the time Lorelai arrived back at the table, with a glass of beer for him, the waiter had arrived and brought at their first course.

"I took a wild guess," Lorelai said as she handed him his drink. "Okay, not wild, it was pretty safe."

He took the drink from her. "You didn't have to do this."

"Oh, I didn't," Lorelai replied. "You owe that drink to a gentleman named Steve who didn't understand that I was here with someone else and wouldn't leave me alone until I let him buy me a drink. Well buy you a drink."

"I'll have to thank him later," Luke deadpanned.

She scrunched up her face. "I think your idea of thanking and his idea of thanking is very different. I would avoid that if I were you, just saying."

"Good to know."

She scrunched up her face again when she noticed the bowl in front of her. "A salad?"

"It's the first course," Luke reminded her. "It looks good."

"Of course, it looks good to you, Mr. Health Nut, but to me it looks like all the stuff I pick off my burger," Lorelai said as she picked up her fork and began to poke around at her salad. "Hopefully the next courses will be better."

As they worked their way through the first course which was quickly followed by the second and third, they eased into a friendly and naturally flowing conversation over the renovations Lorelai was doing to the inn and when it would finally open to the public and the diner, where Lorelai was more than happy to listen to all the angry tales Luke had from the past few days from Kirk and Taylor who were both dead-set on using the diner for the night. Those stories never fell short of entertaining her and she was glad that Luke had plenty to share.

"You do know that Taylor is probably setting up speed-dating right now as were talking, right?" Lorelai asked. "Tomorrow, you'll have tales of the lovely singles that were connected in your diner."

"I told Caesar to not let him into the diner for any reason."

"But Caesar is easily swayed," Lorelai replied. "He once let me into the kitchen just because I said I left something in there. What could I possibly leave in the kitchen?"

"When were you in the kitchen?"

"I don't know, a couple months ago, I was curious," Lorelai answered nonchalantly. "I made an ice cream sundae and then Caesar said he would tell you but I shared with him and he was fine again."

"Lane also wanted to work tonight, I told her the same thing."

"Ooh, good idea," Lorelai complimented. "She can use Mrs. Kim as an excuse because no one wants to cross her. I'm still a little scared of her and I've known her since Rory was in kindergarten."

"That's wise."

"And I threatened Taylor with raising his rent if he stepped foot in the diner tonight."

"You're scheming against Taylor, I like it!" Lorelai said with a smile.

They shared a smile and a moment over scheming against Taylor that was all too soon interrupted by a loud, girlish, squeal followed by a very high-pitched yes, that had everyone in the restaurant noticing and beginning to clap. Realizing what was going on, Lorelai joined in on the clapping and Luke over at Luke who remained silent and stationary in his chair.

"What? You're not going to clap for the happy couple?" Lorelai goaded him.

"I think they're chumps," Luke answered.

"Ouch. Harsh words when you just happened to be a bystander to a marriage proposal," Lorelai replied. "They look happy."

"He proposed in a restaurant on Valentine's Day," Luke pointed out.

She was in full-on teasing mode. "And what, you don't want to be proposed to in a restaurant on Valentine's Day? You know, hide the ring in the dessert and have the waiter bring it out, that doesn't sound like how you want someone to ask them to marry you?"

"It sounds like a choking hazard."

"Sure, it's a little cliché, I won't argue that."

"It is a cliché."

"And we all know Luke Danes isn't a cliché," she continued the teasing.

"I'm serious," Luke replied. "It's a fine proposal for some I guess but I think it's something that should be done privately. Between the couple. Something that means something to the both of them, not something that hundreds of other people have done before."

"Wow, softie Luke has a few ideas on how to propose to a girl," Lorelai said, another bright smile on her face. "When you find the one you want to make Mrs. Backwards Baseball cap, she'll be a very lucky girl."

"Would you want to be proposed to in a restaurant?"

Lorelai shook her head, "Well no, it's a little cliché but if it was the right person, I wouldn't say no just because it happened in a restaurant."

"But the right person would know how to propose to you," Luke pointed out. "If you thought it was a cliché, then it would be avoided."

"True," Lorelai mused. She thought back to her own proposals. Max had taken her idea and ran with it literally after an ill-timed proposal in her living room. And Chris' few proposals were never at the right time or anything too memorable. "I guess if it was the right person, they would propose in a way that fit."

"Exactly."

She liked the turn in conversation since it took them out of their usual musings of their own respective jobs and the daily goings-on in their lives. "Have you ever proposed to anyone? I know the whole situation that happened with Nicole over the summer but anyone else?"

"Rachel," Luke admitted, surprising Lorelai.

It wasn't the person he said that surprised her but the notion that she didn't have to drag it out of him. "Wow," she commented. "I didn't know that. "

"We were young," Luke began to explain. "It's before my dad passed, he was really sick and I thought it was the right decision. We realized it was a big decision and changed our minds later on. A few months later, she left. It would've never worked out anyway."

"Shame," Lorelai sympathized. "She seemed great when I got to meet her. So, if anything, you have good taste."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I guess."

The heaviness of the conversation was alleviated when their third course was whisked away from their tables and was replaced by the fourth course. Lorelai looked down at her plate as it was placed in front of her and then looked across the table to Luke, who wore the same expression that she did. The fourth course looked all too much like the second and third, meaning it looked way too healthy and a little too little.

"Is every course going to be this small?" Lorelai asked. "This isn't enough to feed a baby."

"I don't think you should feed veal to a baby," Luke replied.

She frowned again at her plate. "I don't think I can eat this. Can we skip a course?"

"Is that allowed?" Luke asked. "I don't eat at many restaurants like this."

"Neither do I," Lorelai said. She poked at the teeny portion of food on her plate with her fork. An idea began to bloom in her mind and she looked over at Luke. "Hey, I have an idea."

"This restaurant was your idea."

"And it sounded like a good one at first," Lorelai defended her whole idea of coming out tonight. "But do you want to hear my other idea, I think you'll actually like this one."

"Does it involve leaving here?"

"Yes!" Lorelai exclaimed and then quieted down once she realized she had drawn attention to herself. "But now I'm a little offended that you want to leave, I thought we were having a nice time."

"We are," Luke assured her. "But leaving also sounds great."

His reassurance made her grin. "It does sound great."

"So, should we?"

Lorelai stood up from the table and offered him her hand. "Let's leave and get some real food."

He, too, stood up from the table and when she insisted again, he placed his hand in hers. She squeezed his hand once before leading him away from the table, through the restaurant, and out the front door.

Once they had made it back to his truck and were both in their respective sides of the truck, Lorelai turned to Luke.

"I know we went through a couple of courses back there but I'm still starving," Lorelai exaggerated. "Can we stop somewhere and get some food from like a drive-thru or something?"

"Where do you want to go?" He asked because he was in the same boat as her. The courses they had before didn't matter because he still needed something to eat as well.

"I don't know," Lorelai groaned. "I'm not going to force you to eat something from a drive-thru, you might keel over and if I learned anything recently, it's that I'm not great at driving stick."

"You don't know how to drive a stick," Luke pointed out.

"I know a few things," Lorelai defended herself. "But every restaurant is going to be booked and our only option really is fast food but that's not what you're going to want and I'm assuming that I'm not the only one that is hungry. You barely touched your food."

Luke was silent for a moment before he spoke up. "I know a place."

"A place?"

"A restaurant," Luke clarified.

"You know a restaurant that is magically not going to be packed on Valentine's Day? A restaurant that isn't going to be busy on a holiday night? One that wasn't completely reserved a couple weeks out?" Lorelai questioned. "Are you just going to take me to the diner?"

"It's not the diner," Luke answered one of her many questions. "It's just a place I know."

"What kind of food do they serve, will I like it?" Lorelai asked.

"You eat at Al's," Luke pointed out. "This place is much better."

"And they'll magically have a table for us?"

"Do you want to go eat or not?"

"Shutting up now," Lorelai chimed in. "I swear, not another peep about any of this until we get to wherever you're taking me that is not your own diner."

With that, Luke pulled away from the restaurant that their non-date plans centered around and began to drive away. True to her word, Lorelai remained quiet as he drove down the road and in the direction of their next destination. He couldn't help but noticed how she admired the flowers as she stayed quiet. And he knew that it probably wasn't the smartest idea, considering the various times, they threw around the words non-date tonight, but he kept stealing glances at her as he drove. She looked beautiful.

Before too long, they arrived at their destination and Lorelai finally spoke up again.

"Sniffy's?" Lorelai asked as she read the name on the sign. "You know this place?"

"I've been here before," Luke answered as he parked the truck.

"And we're not going to have to wait around for a table?" Lorelai asked once more. "Because I'm starving and I can't wait that long for food. If this is going to be like an hour wait on a table, you can just take me home."

"Let's just go inside."

"Okay," Lorelai said as she climbed out of her side of the truck and walked around to meet Luke. "I'm just saying if we get in here and there's a long wait, I might just wither away."

"Is that a promise?"

Lorelai gasped, shocked, as she followed him through the parking lot. "I'm not going to make you any promises," she replied, looping her arm with his as they walked.

Ever the gentleman, Luke opened the door to the restaurant and let her go in first before following right behind her. As predicted the restaurant was busy and just as Lorelai was about to point out the fact that they were most definitely going to have to wait, she heard a woman call Luke by the name that he explicitly told her not to call him.

"Lucas!"

She turned to Luke to catch his reaction and saw him smiling and opening his arms to embrace the older woman that walked their way.

"Hey, Maisy," Luke greeted, embracing her warmly.

"If you were coming by, you should've called first, we would've had a table waiting on you. This is a nice joint, Lucas," Maisy reprimanded him.

"I told him you can't just walk in and expect a table on a holiday," Lorelai chimed in. "But he doesn't listen."

"Men never do," Maisy replied. "You must be Luke's young lady."

Lorelai didn't bother correcting her. It would take too much to get into the mechanics of how their night was going. "Hi, I'm Lorelai," she said, introducing herself.

"Oh, this is Lorelai," Maisy said, looking to Luke and then back to Lorelai. "We've heard lots of things about you."

"You have?" Lorelai asked, looking to Luke too who was turning fourteen shades of red. "All good, I hope. I know how this one can be."

"All good sweetheart." Maisy then spoke to Luke. "Give us five minutes and you'll have a table."

As soon as Maisy left, Lorelai went back to teasing Luke.

"Wow, fourteen shades of red," Lorelai nearly poked at his face. "Not my personal best but pretty damn good."

Luke pushed her finger out of his face. "Shut up."

"So, they know you," Lorelai continued on. "And apparently, somehow, they know me. Someone must talk about me a lot when he comes here."

"Yes, I know them and I tell them a few things, I guess you popped up in a story or two," Luke tried to avoid the details of what Maisy had blurted out.

"Or three or four stories," Lorelai added on. "Maybe more than that because they already knew my name and that implies quite a few stories being told."

"They weren't all good," Luke warned.

"Well, naturally, I wouldn't expect them to be," Lorelai replied. "But they really know you. They're packed right now and you walk in and get a table in five minutes."

"They're old family friends," Luke explained.

"That's nice."

Maisy was right on the dot when she said give her five minutes because five minutes later, she returned and grabbed the couple to lead them to a special booth in the back of the restaurant. The table had been decorated with candles and held a bottle of champagne.

"Maisy, all of this wasn't necessary," Luke said when he noticed all the work that had been done in just a few minutes.

"Now Lucas, when you take a girl out on a date, you have to treat her right if you want her to stick around, I'm just trying to help you out here."

"But Maisy, this isn't really..."

Lorelai interrupted. "This is so nice, thank you Maisy." She held onto Luke's arm again. "We really appreciate it."

"Sit, sit," Maisy encouraged and Luke and Lorelai soon followed suit. "Now, you know Buddy would come out and say hi, but the kitchen is frantic right now. I'll let him know you're here though. And we'll have dinner out to you shortly."

"She didn't even take our order," Lorelai pointed out once Maisy was out of their sight. "I didn't even look at the menu." She took that time to glance down at the menu on the table, "Wow, big menu."

"Don't bother looking, waste of time," Luke informed her. "They'll bring you something different from what you ordered."

Lorelai contemplated that fact and accepted with a nod because Al's had the same practice most of the time but that was because of their ever-expanding menu. She pushed her menu to the side and looked back to Luke.

"They really know you."

"I come here a lot," Luke confessed. "I've known them my whole life. They really helped me out after my dad passed. Buddy helped me with everything for the diner."

"So, your 'Luke's' helped make the 'Luke's", Lorelai smiled. "That's wonderful."

"I couldn't have done it without them," Luke replied.

Lorelai smiled at him again before taking in the restaurant around her. It wasn't nearly as fancy or swanky as the one they had just left but it had a very comforting feeling. She turned to Luke. "This last restaurant was nice but I love this place."

"It is great," Luke agreed.

"You know what else is great?" Lorelai asked.

"What?"

"The fact that you've talked about me so much to them, that they recognized my name and set all this up for us," Lorelai teased him again. "I'm very flattered by all the attention."

"You shouldn't be."

"Oh, but I am," Lorelai said, now sharing a smile with him. "I think it's nice. I talk about you to people too," she admitted.

"Oh really?"

She rolled her eyes at his cocky grin. "Now, don't flatter yourself. I mostly talk about your coffee."

"Sure," Luke said, now turning the teasing on her. "Just the coffee."

"Uh," Lorelai exhaled, getting a little flustered. "We're friends. We're allowed to talk about each other to other people, you're a part of my life, you feed me, so, of course, I talk about you."

He chuckled because seeing her flustered had the tables turned and it felt good to be on the other side. "You know what?" he asked, repeating her question from just minutes ago.

"What?" she asked, fighting the urge roll her eyes again.

"This is nice," Luke commented. "This has been a good night."

She couldn't help the smile that broke out onto her face but she sidelined it with her response. "And I didn't even have to pay you to say that."

"I mean it."

She agreed, happily. "This is nice."

A delicious, real meal and two desserts later, one that was packaged up to-go along with the rest of the champagne at Maisy's insistence, Luke and Lorelai had arrived back at her house. He helped out back out of his truck and led her up the porch steps and to her front door, where they both stopped and stood in front of one another.

"You know," Lorelai started off. "I'm glad you agreed to do this with me tonight, I had fun. It was much better than sitting at home and wallowing."

"Good to know that I'm above wallowing."

"You know that I mean."

Luke nodded his head. "I do. And I'm glad that you asked me to do this tonight."

"Really?" she questioned, arching an eyebrow at him. "You're glad that annoyed you into spending your night with me?"

"I wouldn't put it that way but yes," Luke answered her question. "I had a great night."

"Me too," she replied, looking up at him.

Lorelai knew she had talked herself into the fact that this was a non-date all night and that she had been over-thinking everything since they planned this night out, but right now, this was a moment. A moment that wasn't overthought or aligned with a non-date. The look in his eyes was very date-like and swoon-worthy. But she felt the same.

Taking a leap of faith and not over-thinking her actions, Lorelai leaned into him, placing her hand on the side of his face, and kissed him. Gently. Just a light brush of her lips against his. Before she pulled back slightly and smiled at him.

"This has been a great first non-date," Lorelai said, allowing him to hold her close.

Luke rubbed his hand along her back. "Do you always kiss on the first non-date?"

"Only if it went really great, and this was been a wonderful night," Lorelai admitted. "Hence the kiss."

"And if I kissed you now," Luke led on.

Lorelai grinned. "That would mean you feel the same way."

He didn't reply with words simply actions. He pulled her even closer and pressed his lips to hers again. His lips brushed against hers, softly, before he parted her lips and asked for more. She replied in kind, deepening the kiss. He tasted of the chocolate from the dessert she had teased him about until he gave in and shared a few bites with her.

"Are you doing to ask me out on a date-date?" she asked, a little breathlessly as she pulled back from the kiss again.

"I was planning on it."

She smiled brightly. "Good."

Talk of a real, first date-date would come later but right now, on her front porch, she lost herself in his passionate kiss.

* * *

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**I hope you enjoyed!**


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